An Island Story
by LoyalServant
Summary: Using characters from the new HM Island game. Chelsea x Pierre
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Harvest Moon at all. Natsume does. Anyway, this story is based on the new DS game, The Island that Grows with You. Or something like that. I haven't played the game, but have found a lot of info on it. This will probly not be anything like the game and could have many differences from what it's actually like, but I'm having fun writing it and will finish it. This is only the beginning to what I have to see if anyone else would be interested in reading it. Please let me know what you think and give constructive criticism if you want. In reading about the game, I found a site called Ushi No Tane very helpful.

PART ONE:

Chelsea smiled as she walked through the small town that had slowly formed on the Island. Well, if you could call a church and a house a town. She had finished work on the farm she ran and was off to the beach to fish from the pier. It was a beautiful day for fishing.

When she reached the beach, she noticed a ship was docked. _That's odd._ She thought. _They just left with a shipment and it can't be time for another one._ As Chelsea watched, a passenger got off the boat, talking with the captain.

"I just have to find the bakery that sent those cakes out, they were fantastic! Just like the ones I had from the little bakery in the city!" Chelsea stared at him. He was short, as far as boys go, looking to be only a couple inches taller than her. And he was dressed so oddly! Curly, golden hair was stashed underneath the tallest top had she'd ever seen, which was purple no less! He also wore a long purple jacket that made the red bowtie around his neck stick out. She couldn't help herself and giggled at the sight of him.

Soon the captain noticed her, as did the stranger. "Chelsea! It's good to see you again. Fishing today?"

She nodded at the Captain. "It's a beautiful day." She then turned to the stranger who was staring at her. She smiled nervously. "Hello. I'm Chelsea Groves." She extended her hand. The boy continued to look at her, seeming to size her up before replying: "Pierre Gourmet, Eight Generation Gourmet."

Chelsea had to keep from laughing. He talked with such a flair of importance, like everyone should have heard about him. "Well, it's nice to meet you. What brings you to the Island?" She asked politely.

"Well, it's business, you know?"

"Oh." Chelsea felt the brush-off and gave a small smile. "Well, I should leave you to it. Nice meeting you, Gourmet-san. Nice seeing you again Captain." She bowed slightly as the boy headed into town and the Captain went back to his ship to sail out once more. She turned and headed towards the dock.

Once Chelsea knew she was out of earshot, she finally let her giggles go. "What a peacock!" She laughed as she threw her line into the water, trying to forget the funny stranger that had just arrived.

The young farmer fished for most of the afternoon until her stomach started to growl. _Guess that's a sign I should head back._ She thought and began to gather her things. She looked into her basket. She'd kept only eight fish, the biggest ones she'd gotten. _They'll make a nice supper for everyone. Maybe a salad, too._ She took the basket and her rod and hiked across the beach, back towards the tiny, tiny town and the farm she worked on with people who had come to be like family to her.

Chelsea hadn't originally planned on living on an island that hadn't been inhabited for years, but found herself shipwrecked there with a family of four. Tarou, the old, veteran farmer, his daughter Ferena and her two children, Natalie and Erik had been shipwrecked with her. They decided they'd make the best of it and fixed up the farmhouse on the north ridge of the island. It was big enough for all of them and they could forage in the nearby forest and fish in the river.

Eventually they got the transmitter working, but something had set the family's minds on staying on the Island, trying to make the little farm flourish once again. It wasn't like Chelsea had anywhere else to go, so she asked if she could stay and help as well. She was, of course welcome, and helped to plant the crops, harvest and ship them and get knowledge of the Island out there.

A while later, the blacksmith that they ordered all their tools from moved to the Island along with his little daughter Elza. A pastor and a nun came, too, fixing up the Island Church. Everyone became good friends, often spending Sundays at the Church and everyone cooking meals together to share. It was a quiet, peaceful life and Chelsea found it calming. Even now, with the salty air blowing and the sounds of the birds in the trees and the. . .

"What do you mean there's no bakery in this town?!"

She winced. _What a screechy voice!_ Though she knew it had to belong to the newcomer. It seemed to be coming from the vicinity of the Church. Chelsea rounded one of the abandoned buildings to see Ariella, the Nun was trying to calm him down.

Chelsea had to keep from laughing again. The boy was actually pouting! Wasn't he too old for that? She chuckled as she approached the girl and the stranger. "Ariella?" She asked.

"Oh! Hello, Chelsea. Um. . ." She was looking from the farmer to the newcomer, obviously wanting her to take over the fight. Chelsea smiled and Ariella smiled back, gratefully heading back into the Church. "Did you say something about a bakery?"

He turned to look at her, that adorable pout still on his face. "I was told that the cakes that have been sent to the shops in town were from a bakery on this island! They tasted just like the ones I used to get from this little place in town, but it's not there anymore. I thought maybe they moved out here for some reason!" He pouted more.

Chelsea processed this and couldn't help it, she started laughing. "You came all this way just for that?!" She laughed and he pouted more, his face getting red. "We just ship what we find, fish or grow! There's no bakery here. It's just the farm, the Church and the blacksmith shop."

"Well, you don't have to laugh at me for it! But now I'm stuck here! The ship isn't coming back for a while!" He looked around dismally. "And there isn't even a restaurant."

"Nope." Chelsea smiled. "But we all have dinner together. It's the farm's turn to make supper for everyone." She smiled as she held up the basket. "I caught fish. You're welcome to join us. I'm sure you could stay in one of the rooms, too." She added as an afterthought.

The boy looked to the basket. "I guess I have no choice." He sighed. "I hope you're at least a good cook."

Chelsea sweatdropped. "Well, I'm not the best."

"Great. I'm going to be stranded _and_ poisoned."

Chelsea stopped and glared at him. "I'm not _that_ bad!" He just ignored her and kept walking. Chelsea re-shouldered her basket and stalked after him, mentally kicking herself for inviting him to stay in the house. She walked faster so she was in front of him when they entered the farm's property. She hurried up to the door and opened it, holding it for him and not even receiving a 'thank you'.

"Chelsea, welcome back! Did you catch a lot of fish?" Ferena greeted her.

"Yeah, but that's not all I got." She said grudgingly.

"Oh?" The woman stepped into the hall and saw Pierre. "Oh! A new face! Welcome to the Island! My name is Ferena."

Pierre gave her a nice smile. "Nice to meet you, ma'am. I am Pierre Gourmet." He bowed.

"Oh my! What a gentleman! Chelsea, how about we get to work on those fish? I'm sure our guest is hungry."

Chelsea nodded and carried the basket into the kitchen, grumbling as she dumped the fish onto the cutting board and picked up a knife. She began preparing the fish. The young girl took out a frying pan and added a slab of butter to start melting it.

"You know, oil works much better for frying fish." She frowned as she turned to look at the boy.

"Gourmet-san, I fry fish in butter. If you want fish fried in oil, do it yourself." She turned back to the pan and added the fish.

"You should really season them first. Do you have any pepper? And lemon?"

The young woman gritted her teeth. "No. I season the fish with basil leaves."

"Basil? You can't season salmon with basil, it'll ruin the flavors! You need lemon and pepper." He went to reach for the seasonings but Chelsea slapped his hand with her spatula.

"It's _my_ fish. I will cook _my_ fish _my_ way!" She said through gritted teeth.

Pierre huffed at her. "But I can't stand to see you ruin it!" He lunged for the spice rack once again and when Chelsea went to intervene, it ended up knocked off the wall. All the spices came tumbling down and several of the jars broke, sending various spices all over the fish. Chelsea coughed. "Now look what you did!" She scolded him.

"It wasn't just my fault! If you'd just do what I tell you, then it wouldn't be ruined!" They stood in the kitchen, glaring and yelling at each other until Ferea came in.

"What's going on? Oh! The fish! What happened?!" She looked to the two who started yelling that it was the other's fault. Soon her mother side came out and she could no longer take it. "ENOUGH!!" She grabbed the back of their shirts and pulled them apart. "I will finish cooking. Chelsea, go see if Natalie and Erik need any help."

The young farmer grumbled as she exited the kitchen. "Stupid Gourmet!" She muttered under her breath as she went to join her friends.

"What was that all about?" Natalie asked as Chelsea stomped into the field.

"Some stupid newcomer from the city came here. Figured there was a bakery or something on the Island and I invited him here, but he just ruined the fish I caught today! Thinks he knows everything."

Natalie and Erik looked at each other. "Wait, you said someone _new_ came to the Island?"

Erik smiled. "You know what this means?! They mainland knows about us! Maybe more will come!"

"You too?!" Chelsea sighed. "I don't want him here, I want him to go back to whatever town he came from!" She stood and stalked out of the field, heading to the small house across the field from Ferena's house. They had fixed this one up as well and it was where Chelsea slept. It was little more than a sitting room that also doubled as a kitchen, a small bedroom and a toilet. She flopped down on her bed and put her pillow over her face, screaming into it. These next few days were going to be hell.

To be continued . . .


	2. Chapter 2

PART TWO:

That night, they all went to the Church to eat the fish Chelsea had caught and Ferena and Pierre had prepared. She stared at her portion. It was lemon pepper. What really got her was that everyone was saying how great it was, like she'd never made fish for them before. Sure she wasn't the best cook, but it was decent. She was actually good at making desserts more than anything else.

She sighed as she picked at her fish. No matter how good it actually tasted, her anger towards the stupid boy made it taste sour in her stomach. She sighed and stood up. "Sorry, but I'm not feeling well. I'm going home."

"Oh! Chelsea, I'll go with you." Erik offered but she waved him off.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine." She exited the Church and headed down the path towards her house. She opened the door and flopped down on the bed once more, curling into a ball under the sheets before falling asleep.

The next morning dawned and Chelsea awoke to the calming sounds of the birds and the feel of sunlight on her face. She smiled as she stretched and sat up. "What a beautiful day."

She hopped out of bed and tied her hair back in it's kerchief before heading out for the fields. She smiled as she neared the gate, but then she saw something that wiped that happy smile off her face. There, standing with Erik and Natalie, was an obnoxious purple hat. _That's right! I forgot about him!_ She groaned. She grabbed the watering pail and headed into the field.

"These look like they'd make some really tasty dishes!" The eighth generation Gourmet was saying. "They're nice and firm, and have a very good color. Quite fine as tomatoes go."

Natalie smiled. "You sure know a lot, Gourmet-san!" She looked up when she noticed the other farm girl. "Oh hey! It's Chelsea!" She smiled as she greeted her friend. "Feeling better?"

"Not really." She sighed as she started watering the plants, deliberately ignoring the blonde boy squeezing tomatoes.

Erik looked over at the farmer. "Chelsea? I think these tomatoes are ready to be picked. What do you say? You're the expert after all."

Chelsea bent down to inspect the vegetables. "I think they're ready." She gripped the red ball and pulled it off the vine, adding it to the basket that Erik had brought with him. The other two farmers smiled and finished picking the ripe tomatoes off the plants.

The farmer continued to water the plants and checked the other crops as well. They deemed some of the corn ready as well. Once the produce was picked, the sorted it in piles of what they were going to keep and what they would sell. Pierre looked over their shoulders. "Are we eating these?"

Erik nodded. "I bet Chelsea can make a really good vegetable soup with all the vegetables we've grown! She makes good salads, too."

The gourmet groaned. "She's cooking again?"

Chelsea just scooped the produce to keep into the basket and stalked into the kitchen. She put most of them in the fridge and took out other vegetables and a pot, starting a soup. "Jerk. Why can't he just shut his mouth and leave me alone. _He_ doesn't do any of the work, so he can't complain if the way I make things isn't the way he likes them." She viciously started chopping the vegetables, not really paying attention to what she was doing.

"You shouldn't cook when you're angry. It's gonna make the food taste bad."

Chelsea ignored him and continued chopping. Pierre's annoying voice piped up again. "You should cut the vegetables all the same size. That way they cook more evenly."

The farmer slammed down the knife. "Don't tell me how to make soup! It doesn't take a rocket scientist!"

"No, it just takes someone with minimal cooking skills."

She wheeled around to face him, lobbing a glob of mushed up tomato at him. "Get out of my kitchen! Just leave me alone and be happy we're feeding you at all you freeloader!"

Pierre stood in shock as the tomato juice slid down his face. He reached up a hand to his face, frowning when it came back red. He glared at her. "You really are impossible! All I'm trying to do is help!"

"Well I don't want your help! Just leave me alone!" She screamed.

"Fine! Go ahead and screw up everything you make because you're too pig headed to take advice from someone with experience!" He then turned and stalked out to the kitchen to go get cleaned up.

Chelsea frowned as she finished chopping. How dare he call her pig headed! Grrr! He really got on her nerves!

That night, she didn't even look at him as she brought in the pot of soup for everyone and she noticed that, while he ate what he was given, he kept making stupid faces. That really ticked her off and she excused herself early once again, going home to sit and scream into her pillow.

This continued on for the rest of the week and the constant bickering was really taking its toll on the girl. She couldn't concentrate on her farm work and the fields were suffering. Tarou suggested she limit herself to fishing and foraging while she was in these moods and all but banished her from the fields. She sighed as she picked up her basket and headed out towards the woods.

She passed the field where everyone, even the stupid purple pain, were working. Pierre looked at her. "Umm. . . Miss Chelsea?" She stopped her walking and turned to glare at him. "Uh, could I talk to you?"

"You're already talking to me." She said as she started moving again. He sighed. "No, I meant . . . in private?"

She looked at him, then behind him to where Natalie and Erik were nodding. She sighed and nodded, gesturing to her basket. "Fine. We can talk while I'm gathering."

Pierre nodded and walked with her. It was quiet for a while before the young man spoke up. "I-I'm sorry for ruining your fish. It's your house and I should have let you make it however you wanted."

She turned to him a scowl on her face. "That's right! You should have! You know, I may not be the best cook in the world, but everyone seemed to think I did just fine." She huffed as she collected wild grasses to be shipped. "You know, I _do_ know how to bake. Cooking is alright, but baking is fun."

"Oh? You bake?"

Chelsea nodded. "It was probably my cakes that you were getting from the mainland."

Pierre stared at her. "Those were yours?! Why didn't you say anything?!"

She glared at him. "Maybe because you were being so whiny and butting in all over the place!"

Pierre stared at her. "Hey! I knew I'd seen you before! Didn't you used to work in a bakery on the mainland? In the city?"

Chelsea stared at him. "So? What if I did?"

"I used to come in there all the time! It was your mother's shop, right?"

"NO!" Chelsea screamed at him, but then realized just how loud she'd been and covered her mouth. "Ahem. No, she was my auntie."

"Oh . . ." Pierre bent down and started helping her pull up grasses. "So, how come you guys closed? I went to get a cake a while ago and there was a big 'closed' sign on the door, but no explanation." Chelsea was quiet for a long time and soon Pierre was thinking he'd said something wrong. "Miss Chelsea?" He looked over to her and noticed she'd stopped plucking grasses and was instead wiping her face with her sleeves. His face blanched. "Hey, are you okay?" He stood and moved closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Chelsea?"

She suddenly stood, knocking him backwards. Pierre fell sprawled on the grass. "Don't think I like you one bit, just because you saw me crying! I hate you!" She turned and stormed back towards the farm, entering her house and slamming the door.

"Jeeze, what was that all about?" He thought as he sat up, rubbing his butt where he'd fell. He looked over to the farmhouse and then down at the stains all over his jacket and hat. He brushed them off and pouted. "Well, I don't like you either! Lousy no-talent cook." He replaced his hat and headed back towards the farm.

Now that he'd figured out where the cakes came from, and that they were indeed the same ones from the bakery, he really had no reason to stay. _Maybe I can use the radio and convince the boat to come back early._ When he passed by Chelsea's house and heard the quiet sobs coming from inside, though, something felt like it was being thrown upside down inside him. He couldn't actually _like_ her. Could he?

He walked through the town, thinking about it. There was nothing about her that was desirable. She couldn't cook worth anything. At least his mother could cook and satisfy his father. He thought about his dad. He judged all the local cooking contests in the towns and was usually gone most of the spring and summer seasons. But he did teach him all about cooking and enjoying someone's cooking (When it was good, at least. He'd heard horror stories from his father about some of the things people had allegedly cooked).

He was taught how to taste the different flavors and how they all came together in a dish. How to look for just the right texture in different dishes, making sure creamy foods were creamy, but not runny, and thick foods had a good consistency, not just lumpy. He really taught him to appreciate the fine art of food testing and use his passed-down tongue talents to his advantage. He was even planning on taking over for his father one day. Then his life would be filled with food and that'd be what he'd live for, to find the perfect dish made by the perfect chef. But was that what he really wanted?

Pierre sighed as he sat down on a bench in what he assumed used to be the town square. He'd never been left alone this long just to think about things, about what he was going to do with his life. But after coming here and seeing how these people were living, he really had to admire them.

And something had to be keeping Chelsea here. Really, he could see why the others would stay, but why didn't she go back to the bakery with her aunt and reopen it? No doubt their cakes were some of the best he'd tasted, but he also knew Chelsea wouldn't be a very good bakery owner. She was too harsh and took criticism badly. He scowled. That girl confused him.

"Hello Gourmet-san." Pierre looked up to see a kind, round face. "Oh! Good afternoon Pastor Roven." The man smiled as he sat next to the blonde. "What a wonderful day. How is the simple life treating you?"

Pierre sighed. "It's got its ups. And one big down." He said, thinking of the farmer girl.

Roven chuckled. "I'm sure for one who comes from such a big city, it's not very exciting. This is such a small town, but it's peaceful. It would be nice if more people could come and experience the joys of simple living from the bounty of the Harvest Goddess." Pierre silently nodded, not knowing what to say. "Well Gourmet-san, are you planning on staying long? I know you didn't find your bakery."

Pierre shook his head. "No, didn't find a bakery."

Roven smiled. "Instead you found our Miss Chelsea." He chuckled. "I'm glad. Miss Chelsea has been through a lot. As have all of Tarou-sama's family. They were first to settle here, you know?"

"No, I didn't know."

"Oh yes. Tarou-sama and his family were on a boat from the mainland. They were looking for a new start in life. Miss Chelsea was just looking for somewhere far away from her hurtful past, I believe. They were shipwrecked, and managed to get their small life boat to this run-down island. But now, the Island seems like it's coming back to life. They gave it a new life, as the Island has given them the new lives they were looking for." He smiled. "The Harvest Goddess always provides."

"I guess so." Pierre was thinking. Chelsea had a hurtful past? Maybe that's why she was crying when he mentioned her aunt. He felt bad for her.

"Well, it would be nice if you could stay. You seem like a nice young man, Gourmet-san."

"Thank you." He smiled and the pastor excused himself. Pierre sat for a while longer, thinking. Maybe. . . maybe he could help her? Maybe he could help the Island? He got up and hurried back to the farmhouse, a wonderful idea in his head.

Everyone was outside except for Erik, whom greeted him when he came into the house. "Hey Gourmet-san, what's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could use your radio?"

"Sure! You know where it's at." Pierre nodded and hurried to the storage room where the radio was kept. He picked up the receiver and turned it on. He smiled as he relayed a message that he hoped would help the town out. As he hung up the receiver, he chuckled. Now all he had to do was wait. And find out what was wrong with Miss Chelsea.

To be continued. . .


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks so much for the reviews! I was worried about posting this and then not having it be any good and completely wrong from the actual story, which I knew it was going to be anyway. This chapter is introducing a few more characters and just trying to get them all to the Island in a way that seems plausible and also to show that Pierre isn't always annoying to Chelsea. I will have a better chapter up for you soon. And always, thanks for reading.

PART THREE:

A few more days went by and the communication between the two hadn't improved. The farmer girl ignored the gourmet for the most part and when she couldn't, she only offered a couple of words. She really was getting on his nerves, but she was also intriguing him. And anytime he caught her crying, he got that same weird feeling in his stomach. Natalie and Ferea could tell something was up as well. The women would look at him with sympathetic faces whenever he tried to talk to Chelsea. They also tried to talk to her for him, giving her subtle hints, but still getting their point across. However, the brunette was just as stubborn as ever and nothing seemed to break through her shell.

One afternoon, the farmers were hurriedly getting their shipments ready for the boat that was coming. They took their baskets and hauled them down to the beach in a couple of trips. Soon the boat came and the Captain smiled at them. "I've got some more townspeople for you." He smiled.

They all looked at each other. "Huh?" Soon a plump woman was exiting the boat, along with a young, busty blonde who was ushering out goats. The farmers just stared while Pierre smiled. His ad must have worked!

They watched as the women continued to unload animals onto the beach. Besides goats there were chickens, cows, even horses! Chelsea was staring. "Real farm animals!" She breathed. She'd been trying to find someone to bring farm animals to the Island for months! She rushed up to the woman. "Hello! My name is Chelsea Groves, thank you so much for coming! I was beginning to think no one would answer my ad!"

The woman looked at her and chuckled. "Well we're here. My name's Masel and this here's my daughter Julia. But we answered an ad put out by," She rummaged in her apron pocket, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. "Pierre Gourmet."

Chelsea's eye twitched. "Who?"

"Me!" Pierre smiled as he came up and bowed to the ladies. "Thanks so much for coming! And you brought all the animals we ordered!"

They all looked at him. "_WE?!_"

"Gourmet-san! We can't afford all these animals!" Erik groaned as he took his eyes off the pretty young lady that was currently carrying out crates of chickens.

"Ha ha! It's nothing! Think of it as a present for being so nice to me! Well," He turned to Chelsea. "Most of you." She was still standing there, her mouth agape, not knowing what to say. Pierre smiled as a little dog ran off the boat, yapping. "Oh!" He picked it up and it started licking his face. He laughed and handed the puppy to Chelsea. "He's yours Miss Chelsea. I bet you like dogs. All girls like dogs."

The girl held the excited dog and looked at the boy in front of her. Suddenly he didn't seem so annoying. "Thank you."

He smiled. "It's no problem." He turned to look at the animals. "Well, we should get ours back to the farm. The ones with red bandannas, right Masel-sama?" She nodded and the farmers took the leads of the animals Pierre had bought for them. In all, there were two horses, three goats, four cows and eight chickens, all sporting a red bandanna.

The farmers placed the animals in the barns and hurriedly went to getting them comfortable. It was so much that by the time they were done and had had a bit of supper, all of them were too tired to stay up later.

Chelsea trudged back to her house where her new puppy greeted her on the porch. She smiled as she picked the little animal up and turned. Pierre was heading into the main house and she took a moment to smile at him. He caught the look and smiled back before going inside. Chelsea looked at the puppy and giggled as he licked her face. "I guess he's not that bad."

Over the next few weeks, even more people came to the Island. First was a traveling salesman and his little son; Chen and Charlie. Elza was happy to have someone closer to her age to play with and the two became fast friends.

A few days later came another loner; a fisherman by the name of Danny. He made a good living by catching and shipping all the fish he caught. He even saved some for big town dinners they had every night.

Chelsea was happier than she had been in a long time. "I can't believe how many people answered your ad Gourmet-san!"

"Well, it was pretty convincing. And now at least we have some good cooks here." He meant for it to be a joke, but Chelsea wasn't laughing. "Ah, Miss Chelsea, I'm sorry!" He quickly apologized.

She shook her head. "It's alright." She sighed. "I'd better go." She started to walk towards her house, but Pierre stood and followed after her. "Miss Chelsea! Wait!" She stopped and turned. "Maybe we could go for a walk by the river?"

The farmer stared at him. "What for?"

"You know, just to . . . to spend time together? I think we could really get along." Chelsea nodded and they started walking towards the river, the little puppy running next to their feet. Pierre smiled as he watched the dog. "You like him?"

She nodded and giggled. "Thank you for him. And for the rest of the animals as well! And for bringing so many new people to the Island!" She blushed. "I guess I've got a lot to be thankful to you for."

"Awww it was nothing." He blushed and looked over at her. "I'm sorry. I wanted to make up with you. I know we got off to a rocky start, but I really like you, Miss Chelsea. You're a good person and a good friend."

She looked at him and blushed. She didn't know what it was, but he seemed different somehow. Like he looked when he was smiling on the beach, happy that he had surprised his friends. "You are too, Pierre-san." She looked over and smiled widely. "I think we can be really good friends."

Pierre beamed at the use of his first name, even with the honorific at the end. He nodded. "You bet! And maybe I can even teach you how to cook." He joked.

Chelsea laughed as well. "Maybe."

To be continued. . .


	4. Chapter 4

Another part for you guys. Thanks so much for reading and your reviews, I'm happy you like it! Here's another update for you and I hope you like it as well. Enjoy!

PART FOUR:

Months passed by and both Chelsea and Pierre had gotten over their constant bickering, much to the joy of everyone else in town. Erik blushed whenever he was around Julia and the young woman smiled at him. She giggled at his awkwardness and teased him about how cute he was when he blushed, which only made him blush more. Both Chelsea and Natalie were betting on them getting together sometime soon.

They were sitting on the porch swing one afternoon when Julia stopped by to go fishing with Erik. They watched as the pair made their way to the river and Natalie sighed. "I'm glad he's finally gotten the confidence to be around a girl."

Chelsea laughed as she patted the puppy whom she'd ended up naming Salty (due to his love of getting into bags of the stuff in the storeroom). "It's only natural. They spend a lot of time together, so obviously there's going to be something there. And spending time with someone makes it so you're more comfortable around them."

The redhead looked over the other farmer. "And what about you? Do you realize how much time you spend with Gourmet-san? I bet there's something there, too."

"What?!" Chelsea looked at her with large eyes. "There's nothing between us, we're just friends!"

Natalie smirked. "That's not the way I see it. You like him and deep down you know it." Chelsea sat there for a moment and thought. True, she wasn't as annoyed by the boy as she had been, but she didn't _like_ him. Did she? She turned her gaze to the fence where Pierre was walking, clearing weeds from around the posts. He did look more grown up. He worked hard and even helped her to improve on her cooking, eating a lot of ruined dishes in the process.

Natalie watched as her friend stared at the gourmet and smirked. She definitely liked him. Suddenly there was a call from the main house. "Pierre-san!" Ferena called. "There's a message for you over the radio!"

The blonde nodded and wiped his hands on the apron he wore before hurrying to the house. A few minutes later, he came out, looking down. Chelsea could tell right away something was wrong. He trudged up to the girls. "I have to go back to the mainland. That was my father."

Chelsea stared at him. "You're going back?"

He nodded. "Yeah, the boat is on its way. I'll have to leave tomorrow." He looked over the fields. "I had a lot of fun helping you out here. I really have more respect for the farmers now."

Natalie nodded sadly. "It was nice getting to know you, too. You've helped the Island so much!" She looked over at her friend, noting the hurt that was evident on her face. "Gourmet-san, do you think you'll come back?"

He sighed. "I hope so, but I don't know if I can. I'm sure my dad has other plans for me." He looked over at Chelsea who was staring at him. She couldn't understand how he could just up and leave. "Miss Chelsea?" He asked, not liking the look on her face. The farmer abruptly stood and stormed into her house, slamming the door.

Natalie winced and looked sadly at Pierre. "She's gotten fond of you." Pierre nodded. Chelsea had become a good friend of his, too. "I'm sure if we give her some time, she'll calm down." Natalie patted Pierre's shoulder.

"Yeah. I guess I'd better go pack." He then turned and headed back towards the house. Natalie stood and pressed her ear to the door of the little house, the sobs confirming what she already knew.

Chelsea didn't come out of the house for the rest of the day and anytime someone tried to coax her out, she just ignored them. Natalie and her mother knew this wasn't the way to deal with things, it was just hurting both Chelsea and Pierre more. When it was time to have supper, Chelsea stayed in her room, not joining the rest of the town for their nightly gathering. They didn't see her for the rest of the night either, though Pierre stayed up in the hopes she'd come around.

By the time morning hit, the young man was in sour spirits. He had packed his bags and was heading down towards the docks, having said his goodbyes to everyone except Chelsea. He sighed as he walked over to her house, knocking on the door. "Miss Chelsea?" He called, but there was no answer. He frowned. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving now. I was really hoping I'd be able to see you again before I left."

Still nothing came from the house. "I wanted to thank you, for being such a good friend. I hope you don't stay mad at me forever, I'd still like to be friends with you." No response. Pierre sighed and placed the envelope he'd been holding in her little mailbox. "I'm going now. Take care of yourself Miss Chelsea." And with that he turned around and walked away from the farm, and one of the best friends he'd ever had.

Chelsea had laid on her bed, not noticing the tears that slipped down her cheeks. She felt like a part of her was being ripped out and sent on that boat with Pierre. She already hurt so much and she didn't think she could stand having to actually say goodbye to him, so she pretended not to hear. But she did.

She sat up and moved the curtains aside, watching as the boy in purple made his way down the road to the beach. She continued to stare out the window until the little speck of purple disappeared from view on the big boat. Only when she saw the boat depart, and get smaller and smaller did she stand up and go outside.

She looked out over the farm. Erik and Natalie were working with Tarou. They all looked up at the sound of the door, but then looked away again when they saw her. She reached over to the mailbox on the side of her house and took out the letter before going back inside. Her hands trembled as she broke the seal on the envelope and took out the folded slip of paper.

_Dear Miss Chelsea, Leaving here is hard for me, as I'm sure it's hard for you. Believe me, if I had a choice I'd stay here with my wonderful new friends forever. But sadly I can't. I have an obligation to my family that I can't break. I hope to see you again. I am coming back, so you'd better still be here when I return. And please don't hate me for going. Out of everyone on the Island, I know I'll miss you the most. Take care of yourself Miss Chelsea, and know that I'll be wishing you and the family the best on the farm. Oh! And don't forget, you always season the fish before you cook it. I don't want your cooking to revert back to what it was._

Chelsea smiled as she could imagine the humor in his eyes as he wrote this. She finished the letter. _I'll come back as soon as I can. See you then. Sincerely, Your friend Pierre._

She was crying once again, but at least now she knew he was coming back. She looked out the window as she held the letter. "You'd better keep that promise."

To be continued. . .


	5. Chapter 5

This one's a bit shorter, but I didn't want to lump it in with the previous one or the next one. I'm hoping not many chapters will be this short. I wrote this way before I knew the finalized pairings for the game and never expected your rival for Pierre to be Natalie. I actually thought they'd pair him up with Cefiena, but I was wrong. So, hopefully you can overlook my blunder and I'll try to think of a way to fix it in the future. Enjoy.

PART FIVE:

Several months passed once again and Chelsea was adapting. She wasn't enjoying things as much as she had been, but she could handle it. And, as the days went on, a few more people came to the Island. A young rancher named Valts settled on the Island and introduced new animals to the people. He was nice, but very quiet and seemed very prudent with his money.

The biggest surprise was when Lilly stepped off the boat. She was a very lovely city girl who was actually a singing sensation. Apparently the poor girl had had her heart broken and had come to the Island to mend it. And, by the way Danny and she got along, it would be mended very soon.

Chelsea sighed as she watched the young couple walk hand in hand. It made her sad. So did seeing Erik and Julia. And it didn't help that Natalie was eyeing Valts and didn't have much time to talk to her anymore. The farmer sat on the bench, finding herself once more thinking of Pierre.

She hadn't heard from him since he'd gone and it left an ache in her chest. Fall was coming to an end and soon winter would be upon them. She shivered. Already the air was chilly. Chelsea buttoned up her coat a bit and pulled her kerchief down over her ears as she rose from the bench, making her way back to the farm.

Natalie was standing near the fence talking with Valts, but called to her when she approached. "Chelsea! Mom wants to talk to you in the store room." Chelsea nodded and went to go meet Ferera.

"Ah, Chelsea! Come sit at the radio." Chelsea sat down and Ferera handed her the receiver. "Just wait. You have a call coming."

"Oh, thanks." Chelsea was confused, but sat and waited. Soon the radio crackled and a familiar, annoying voice came over the line.

"Hello? Hello?"

Chelsea couldn't stop the smile from spreading over her face. "Pierre-san?!"

"Hello? Miss Chelsea?"

"Yes! It's me! It's good to hear from you! How are things?"

She heard him chuckle. "I'm fine! How about you?"

"It's getting cold. We're busy getting things ready for winter."

"Ah, I see. I suppose having someone extra there would get in the way, huh?"

Chelsea eagerly leaned into the receiver. "Are you coming back Pierre-san?"

"On the next boat!"

The farmer practically squealed. "That's wonderful! I'm so happy!"

"I'm glad! Oh, and I met someone here I'd like you to meet."

"Oh? Who is it?" Chelsea asked.

"Her name is Cefiena. Her father owns a mining company and wants to come to the Island to start up a mine. Isn't that great?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah." A girl? Cerfiena? She sounded pretty.

"Miss Chelsea? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. Uh, Pierre-san I've gotta go."

"Oh. Okay, Miss Chelsea. I'll see you next week."

"Yeah. Bye." She then switched off the radio and buried her face in her hands. He'd met someone new. She'd lost her chance. If only she hadn't been so stubborn. If only she'd realized her feelings sooner. She stood and thanked Ferera for the radio message before heading back to her house. Chelsea felt like breaking down, and that's just what she did.

To be continued. . .


	6. Chapter 6

Last chapter was short, so I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy and, as always, thank you for the reviews.

PART SIX:

The remaining week was spent in a blur for Chelsea. She went about her chores, not really registering what she was doing. Ferera noticed this and pulled the young girl aside one afternoon as they were clearing the fields for winter. "Chelsea? You've been acting strange lately. What's going on?"

The young farmer couldn't hold the tears back anymore and clung to the older woman. "I screwed up, Ferera! I screwed up bad."

She patted her back. "There, there, it can't be so bad? What do you think you messed up?"

Chelsea sniffled. "When Pierre called the other day, he said he'd met someone. He said he met a girl and he's bringing her here with him. I lost my chance because I was too stubborn to see what was right in front of me! Now I-I don't know what I'm gonna do!" She buried her face into Ferera's shirt and cried.

The woman comforted her, rocking her back and forth. "Now, I'm sure it's not as bad as you think. Did Pierre-san say this girl was his girlfriend?"

"No. But the way he talked about her." She sniffled. "He seemed really happy."

Ferera looked at her and stroked her hair. "You know how Pierre-san wants to make you happy by bringing new people to the Island. Maybe that's all it is. Maybe he sounded happy because he thought _you'd_ be happy." Chelsea thought a moment. "Pierre-san seems to care for you very much, Chelsea. Don't go jumping to conclusions."

The young farmer nodded and sat up, wiping her eyes. "You're right, as usual. Thank you Ferera."

The older woman smiled. "Now, you'd best get cleaned up. The boat will be here in a couple of hours. You want to show a pretty face to Pierre-san, right?" She smiled and nodded, a blush creeping over her cheeks. Thanking Ferera again she went to get cleaned up.

She had had Goran help her expand her tiny house, adding a tub to the bathroom and extending the width of the house in the process. Chelsea washed her face and put some eye drops in to take away the red in her swollen eyes. She felt she looked alright and changed into cleaner clothes. She was just buttoning up her coat when she heard the blast of the boat's horn, announcing its arrival. Chelsea hurriedly put on her hat and helped to collect the last shipment of crops before winter, loading the crates into the wagon that Cesar, their male horse, pulled. They made their way down to the beach just as the boat docked.

Chelsea felt like her stomach was doing flip flops as they approached. There, waving from the side of the boat was Pierre. "Miss Chelsea!" He called as he waved.

"Pierre-san!" She smiled and waved back. As soon as the ramp was secured, Pierre ran off the boat to hug her. "I missed you."

She felt like crying as she hugged him back. "I missed you, too. I'm sorry for not seeing you off when you left."

"It's alright. I kinda sprung it on you." Chelsea smiled into his coat. For once things felt right until. . .

"Pierre? Who's this?" A soft voice came from behind her and Chelsea turned to see a pretty girl standing behind her. She had long black hair that flowed down her back and glasses that framed her face in a flattering manner. She was dressed so nicely, too! Much nicer than any of Chelsea's clothes.

Pierre smiled. "Cefiena, this is my friend Chelsea."

_Friend?_ She thought. She tried to force a smile as she waved to the girl.

"It's nice to meet you Chelsea. My father and I are going to start a mine here. I'm sure we'll make good business." Chelsea nodded.

"Where is your father?" Cefiena smiled as a tall, elegantly dressed man exited the boat. "This is my father." The man saw the group and smiled as he walked over.

"So you are the builders of the Island. He took Ferena's hand and kissed it. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Darshan, president of the Darshan Mining Groups."

Ferena smiled. "Well, welcome to the Island! I hope you find it to your liking here."

"I'm sure we will. I believe our house has been prepared?" Erik nodded. "You got the one in the town square, right? Goran, our blacksmith has been working hard on it."

Cefiena giggled. "Oh I'm so excited! Pierre, will you show us to our house?"

"Sure!" He smiled. "Chelsea, you come, too!"

The girl just shook her head. "No, I'd better help load the crates. I'll see you later."

"Oh. Okay." Pierre looked a bit put out, but walked with Cefiena and Darshan into town.

Ferera looked at her. "That was quite a greeting." She patted her shoulder.

"Did you see her? She's much prettier than me." Ferena patted her back.

"Don't sell yourself short, Chelsea. You're a lovely young woman. Pierre-san would be lucky to have you by his side."

"I'm not so sure." She sighed as she helped carry the crates onto the boat. As the family walked back through town with their earnings and cart full of new supplies, Chelsea looked over to the large building that used to be an inn, now the home of Darshan and his pretty daughter. Ferena nudged her in the direction of the home, but Chelsea shook her head, leading Cesar back up the path and unhitching him from the wagon before taking him to the stable.

Once he was fed, along with their mare Chef, Chelsea headed for her own little house. She opened the door and slumped down on the little couch in front of the fire. It had died down and she grabbed another log, tossing it into the hearth and poking the coals to get them burning again. She pouted as she put her head in her hands and the tears started falling.

"Miss Chelsea? Are you in there?" The girl looked over her shoulder to the door, on the other side of which was Pierre. She stood and quickly wiped at her eyes, hoping they looked alright before going over and opening the door.

"It's cold!" He said, shivering and bunching his purple jacket up around him more. He looked at her face and frowned. "Are you okay?"

She nodded dumbly and stepped aside. "Come on in."

"Thanks." He stepped inside and she closed the door. The two just stood there in the middle of the room, not saying anything. "Uh. . . So, how've you been?" Pierre asked.

"Fine." She said as she went back to sit on the couch. The boy just stood there. He was confused. Was Chelsea angry at him?

"Miss Chelsea? Are you sure you're alright?"

She turned angrily in her seat and glared at him. "Of course I'm fine! I've told you over and over! What does it take for someone to believe a girl around here?!" His eyes widened and a pout set on his face.

"I'm sorry, I was just worried."

"Well you don't have to be! I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself!"

Pierre sighed. He thought things would be fine when he came back, but apparently not. Maybe he'd really made a mistake in returning. But something, or more accurately _someone _kept tugging him away from the city and back to the peaceful Island. And now that someone was angry with him. Where did he go wrong?

"Miss Chelsea?" She didn't answer and just kept staring at the crackling fire. Pierre sighed and turned back to the door, placing his hand upon the knob. "Well, I can tell you don't want me here. I'll go now. Nice seeing you again." And he exited the little house, closing the door behind him. Chelsea heard the latch click into place and let the tears flow freely. She'd done it again!

To be continued. . .


	7. Chapter 7

Another chapter for you wonderful readers. I hope this is as good as the previous chapters seem to have been and that you enjoy it. Thanks for reading.

PART SEVEN:

It was awkward around the farm the next few days. Pierre had no idea why Chelsea was so happy to see him one minute, then would barely speak to him the next. He'd been going crazy back home, wanting nothing more than to come back to the Island and spend time with her again.

He sighed when he thought back. He'd gotten off the boat and immediately ran to greet her, and she'd hugged him. It felt good and he'd been so happy. He smiled at the memory of the feeling. What had happened next? The attendant brought his bags out and then. . .

"Oh!" It suddenly hit him. "Cefiena! I bet she thinks. . ." Pierre stopped that thought and thought. The girl was nice, but he'd only known her a little while. Pierre had met Cefiena one day in the city.

She was sitting in a little café he'd gone to. He'd ordered tea and a scone and was heading to his table when he'd bumped into Cefiena, making her spill her drink all over herself. He'd quickly apologized and helped her clean up the mess, but her expensive skirt had been ruined. He felt so bad, but she'd just smiled and assured him it would be alright.

She introduced herself and told him she was here with her father who was looking for a good area to start up a new branch of his mining corporation. Pierre ended up telling her about the Island and she said she'd make a note to tell her father. Pierre gave her his family's phone number in case they needed to get a hold of him and excused himself.

A while later, he got a call from Cefiena's father, Darshan. He'd done some research on the Island and thought it would be a wonderful place to open up a branch. Pierre was happy to hear this and arranged with Darshan to rent the old inn on the Island. He'd contacted Erik who contacted Goran who started fixing it up for them.

Cefiena was excited as well, mostly for the trip over. She'd never been on such a long boat ride before and was really looking forward to it. "Pierre?" She'd asked one day. "Are you going to go to the Island, too? I'm sure it would be a lot more fun with you there."

Pierre had smiled and nodded. "I am going back. I was only there for a few months, but I was very fond of it. I'm sure you'll love it, too."

She'd smiled and blushed then. "I'm sure I will."

Then Pierre had called Chelsea on the radio. He couldn't wait to tell her he was coming back and he was happy she was just as excited as he was.

The boat ride over felt like it took forever, but Cefiena kept him company, talking with him about her father's business and her eagerness to help him locate ores. She seemed to speak of nothing but the business and her father's legacy. She reminded him a lot of himself, though maybe a bit more focused on following in her father's footsteps.

Though she was a good friend, Pierre felt Chelsea had nothing to worry about and decided to go talk to her about it. The boy pulled on his coat and lifted the collar around his neck before heading out the door. Chelsea was just exiting the stable and he hurried up to her. "Miss Chelsea?"

She stopped and smiled at him a bit. "Hi Pierre-san."

He smiled wider. She was acting civil today. "I was just wondering if you'd like to go for a walk with me. It's a pretty nice day, apart from the wind."

She smiled. "Sure. Just let me put my things away." Pierre waited and little Salty ran up to him. "Hey there!" He picked up the puppy and scratched his ears. He liked animals, but his dad never let him have any because they were supposedly dirty. Chelsea came back out with her hat on over her ears and smiled at him. "Ready?" He nodded and the two headed for the road, Salty enjoying being held by the boy.

They walked down through the square and over to the ridge that looked over the ocean. "It's pretty." Chelsea smiled and Pierre nodded.

"Miss Chelsea, I-"

"Pierre!" A call came from behind them. Cefiena was rushing up to them, her long fur coat billowing behind her. "We found something so amazing Pierre! Come see!"

Pierre smiled and nodded, then looked back at Chelsea. "Coming?"

She shook her head and took Salty from him. "No, I'd best get back. There's still more work to do." She looked upset. "You two go have fun."

Pierre hesitated, but the dark-haired girl tugged at his hand and he followed. Chelsea sighed as she turned back towards the farm. "I should have known better."

Later that night, Chelsea carried a covered dish of fried rice and vegetables to the Church. Danny was bringing the fish tonight that he'd caught, the largest red snapper ever recorded. It was sure to be a feast.

Erik opened the door for the girl and his mother, sister and grandfather. It was warm and cozy and the usual long table was set up. Chelsea smiled at Roven and Ariella who were setting out plates. Danny and Lilly were helping with glasses and Elza was trying to set out silverware. She stopped, though, when Charlie and Chen walked in, running off to play with the boy.

As soon as the table was set, the doors opened again and a laughing Pierre walked in with a giggling Cefiena. Darshan was behind them, looking quite pleased. He smiled at everyone. "We found the perfect mine! I feel the added business will really help your little Island."

"That's good." Tarou grunted. He'd already decided he didn't like the man much, but any income was good for the growth of the town.

Pierre sat down next to Chelsea and smiled at her. She gave a half smile as Cefiena sat on his other side and Darshan next to her. "So, we all have supper together?" Everyone nodded.

"We have fish and rice tonight." Ariella smiled sweetly.

"May we thank the Harvest Goddess for her blessings." Roven added. Everyone nodded and the food was served up. Chelsea once again picked at her food, distracted by the constant chattering of the new girl about ores and mining. Was this really all she talked about?

"Oh! And we found gold! You'll be able to buy some to make new heads for your tools, Chelsea! Isn't that great? Having gold tool heads should make you quite popular! And think of how they'll sparkle! Just like Pierre's hair." She blushed.

Chelsea frowned. She didn't want her thinking about Pierre's hair. She looked over at the girl. "Have you ever used farming tools Cefiena?"

The girl blinked. "No, I haven't."

"Well, then how do you know what would be an improvement over the one's we have now? From my experience, mystrille is the best material to use for tool heads. It's very light and extremely durable."

"Oh." Cefiena blushed. "I didn't realize you knew about those kinds of things. Well, I still like gold. It sparkles in the sun so nicely."

Chelsea nodded. "It does, but sparkly tools aren't really the first priority of the farmer."

Cefiena blushed more and grew very quiet. "I suppose not." She didn't talk much the rest of the meal and that made Chelsea happy, despite Darshan's occasional glares in her direction. She looked over at Pierre and noticed the smirk on his face. She smiled widely and went back to eating.

To be continued. . .


	8. Chapter 8

I want to thank you all who have continued to read this far. I hope you enjoy this chapter of the story, for some reason I'm partial to it. Uh, all I'll tell you in advance is that this happened to a friend of mine and it seems like something that could happen to Chelsea. But, since the HM world is not our world, things are handled differently. I still hope it came out okay. So, enjoy.

PART EIGHT:

As they left the Church that night, it began snowing. The little white specks floated gently to the ground and the kids started running down the street, giggling and trying to catch them on their tongues. Chelsea smiled at them. She loved those kids, having watched them both a few times.

Everyone in town chipped in on watching the little ones and helping to teach them different things. Rovan and Ariella taught them about the Goddess and to respect her earth. Chelsea and the others taught them how to water plants and weed a field, as well as taking care of animals. Goran helped them build a birdhouse that hung in the big tree on the ridge and Danny and Lilly took them fishing. With so many teachers, the kids were bound to grow up well-rounded.

Pierre came to stand next to her as the fathers rounded up their kids. "Really energetic, aren't they?" Chelsea nodded and smiled. "Well, we'd better get back." He said and she nodded. The farmer looked over her shoulder to see Cefiena and her father walk back to their house. She didn't really feel sorry for teasing the girl, but didn't want to have to do it again. She hoped maybe she'd take an interest in someone other than Pierre, though.

Chelsea took a moment to glance over at the boy and saw that his cheeks were red, breath coming out in quick puffs of fog. "Are you okay, Pierre-san?"

He nodded. "It's just chiller with the ocean so close."

She nodded and took the extra scarf from around her neck, stepping in front of him and draping it over his shoulders. "Wha-?"

"Well, if you're going to live so close to a cold ocean, you should dress for it more." She finished wrapping the cloth around his neck and smiled. "Better?"

He nodded and blushed, reaching up to adjust his tall hat. "Thank you Miss Chelsea."

"You're welcome."

Winter days always pass by slowly and make everyone exposed to them slow down. There were no crops to take care of and Goran couldn't build anything with all the snow that built up on the tiny island. The only thing to do for the farmers was take care of the animals and the house chores. They still had their nightly meals together with the rest of the town, thanks to Danny's hard work. Charlie and Elza were loving the snow, building snowmen and snow forts until their gloves were soaked and cheeks were red.

The days passed in the same manner until one day Ferena was looking at the calendar. "Oh! It's almost time for the Starry Night Festival."

Pierre looked up from the magazine he was reading at the kitchen table. "Starry Night Festival?"

Ferena nodded. "Even though the days have gone by so slow, it seems like it's snuck up on us." She smiled as she looked over at the boy. "Who are you going to ask to spend it with you?"

Pierre looked at her. "Isn't it going to be a big group thing? We always had a party for the Starry Night Festival back in the city."

Ferera smiled. "We can have a party if everyone else wants to, but it's customary to have someone special to spend it with as well." She sighed happily. "I loved the Starry Night Festival when my husband was still alive. We'd spend the night together, sitting out under the stars and freezing our ears off." She chuckled. "But it was nice to be together like that. Just sitting and watching the stars." She seemed to go off into a daydream about those days and Pierre was left to sit and think about her question.

A couple of days later, the boat arrived with their replenishment of supplies. Chelsea hooked Cesar up to the wagon and rode him down the path to the dock to load up the crates. The farmers didn't have much to ship out, but Chelsea collected the payment and then loaded the crates of goods the farm had purchased onto the cart. She then got back on the big horse, guiding him up the road that led back to the farm.

They were going up the incline that led to the farm when suddenly Elza and Charlie ran out in front of the horse. Chelsea cried out to them to move, but Cesar had already seen them and gotten spooked. He reared up and nearly threw the farmer off, but she held on.

The big horse slipped on the icy path and Chelsea could feel him falling sideways. She had no time to do anything else but hang on and feel the crushing pain in her left leg as the horse fell on top on it. Her elbow slammed into the hard ground and she felt the pain shoot up her arm.

The straps on the wagon broke and it toppled, the crates of goods falling everywhere. She could hear Elza and Charlie crying from off to one side and she hoped they were alright. She let go of the reigns as Cesar finally righted himself, releasing the girl from underneath him as he stood and trotted off, seemingly upset from his fall, but not hurt.

Before she knew it, Goran and Chen were by her side, the blacksmith holding the horse for her and the merchant looking her over. Though she was in pain, she handled it well. Her left leg and elbow were crushed and she couldn't do anything to move them. Chen was doing the best he could to make her comfortable until they could get her somewhere to deal with her injuries. Not many people on the Island had experience in first aid beyond taking care of cuts and the minor cold.

Rovan had heard the commotion and come out to see what was the matter. Chen sent him down to the boat to see if anyone knew how to take care of broken bones, and if not to send for a doctor immediately. The pastor nodded and rushed down to do so.

Chelsea looked up at the merchant, her eyes watering. "Are the kids alright?" He nodded. "Good." She sighed and winced when a shot of pain ran up her side. "They ran out in front of me and the horse got spooked. I thought he'd kick them. Or worse."

Chen shook his head. "They're fine. You're the one we need to be worried about."

Chelsea chuckled, but grimaced when it produced the same result as the sigh. "You should have seen me when I fell out of the tree at my auntie's house when I was five. I was more banged up than this." She managed a small smile.

Soon Rovan came hurrying up with the Captain and another crew member who held a black bag. The other man knelt down beside the farmer. "I'm a physician, I know first aid. I'm here to help you. What's your name?"

"Chelsea." She managed.

He nodded and went to looking her over. He told her she had several fractures in her leg and foot and that her elbow was shattered. He used his supplies to make braces for her leg and arm, gave her a general pain killer and told her an actual doctor would have to come see her as soon as possible.

She nodded and Goran gave Cesar's reigns to Chen before gently lifting her. "Thank you." She blushed and looked to all of them, then to the spilled supplies. "I need to get this back to the farm."

"We'll take care of that. You need to get to bed." Chelsea sighed and nodded. There was no denying that one. Goran carried her up the path to the farm and into her little house, helping her to get comfortable.

"How is that Miss Chelsea?"

She smiled. "Thank you very much, Goran-san."

He nodded. "I'll go tell Ferena-san." She nodded and the blacksmith left. Salty had rushed in and jumped up on the bed with her. She patted the little dog with her good arm.

Soon, as she expected, Ferena, Natalie, Erik and Pierre were all rushing into her house, throwing a million questions at her, but all would have the same answer.

Amid the franticness in the house, Chelsea finally managed to get out what happened. "Cesar and the crates are still in the road. You should go help Chen and Goran get them up here instead of fussing over me. If something were to happen to that horse, we'd be in trouble."

Natalie scowled. "How can you think like that when you're hurt so bad?!"

The other girl smiled. "I'll be fine. A doctor is going to come and fix me up good as new. But there's some things in those crates that'll get ruined if they stay in that snow."

Natalie scowled at her but pulled her brother along with her, all the while grumbling about how stubborn Chelsea was.

Ferena got the fire going and retrieved more blankets for the bed. "Are you going to be alright in here? Would you like to come to the main house?"

She shook her head. "I'll be fine here."

Ferena frowned. "Someone will have to look after you." She then looked to Pierre who looked to be still in shock over the state of his friend. "Pierre-san, why don't you stay with Chelsea and make sure she's taken care of?"

Chelsea blushed and looked away. "He doesn't have to."

"No! I'll stay." Pierre suddenly spoke up.

She looked up at him and sighed. "You don't have to do that."

"But I want to!"

Her cheeks redden more and she sighed. "All right."

Pierre smiled and hurriedly went about fussing over her. She scowled and swatted him away. "I'm fine! Don't coddle so much!"

"But you need my help!" He whined.

Chelsea rolled her eyes and flopped back on her overly fluffed pillows. _This was going to take a lot of patience._

To be continued. . .


	9. Chapter 9

Starry Night Festival! It's a really nice holiday and so romantic. sighs I hope you like this chapter. I don't know if I'll be updating this weekend, so I figured I'd better give you guys this now.

Oh, and on another note, I need to stop reading heart events and stuff for Pierre. I made him so unlike the game character it's not even funny and I'm starting to feel bad about my story. But I've also gotten attached to my version of him, so I'm kinda conflicted. 

PART NINE:

Two days after her accident, a dark haired doctor from the city came and properly set her leg and arm, telling her it would take a few months for her leg to heal and promised to come and check up on her every few weeks. She nodded and took the flyers he gave her of ways to stay healthy during her healing period.

Pierre hardly left Chelsea's side while she was injured, spending uncomfortable nights sleeping on her little couch and eating meals with her in her little house. Chelsea was confined to her bed and the two sat and watched television or played cards or board games during the day.

Pierre kept trying to fluff up her pillows and making sure she was comfortable, which she yelled at him for, accusing him of 'suffocating' her. Thankfully she didn't need his help to go to the bathroom or clean herself up, though he had helped her one day when she'd tried to wash her hair by herself and gotten shampoo in her eyes. She ended up screaming for him to come help her get the suds out of her face and had accepted his help with that task ever since.

She had gotten visits from pretty much everyone in town. Elza and Charlie came to apologize for running out into the street and making the horse get scared. She smiled and patted their heads, telling them not to worry about it. Rovan and Ariella came and visit, saying prayers for her quick recovery. She thanked them for their kindness and thoughts. Cefiena had come to visit as well. Though she wished the farmer well, she immediately turned and asked Pierre to come to the mines with her.

Much to Chelsea's delight, he'd declined her offer, insisting he needed to take care of his 'patient'. The girl had frowned, but left him alone for a while before trying again and getting the same response. After a while, she stopped and just accepted that he was not going to accept her invitation.

A week passed and Pierre left her alone for a while one day, eventually coming back with two trays of food from the main house. Chelsea sighed. "I really need to get better and help more around here. Ferena's been the only one to cook for quite a while."

"I don't think she minds that much. And you know you have to get better." Chelsea nodded as Pierre set the tray down on her lap and lifted the covering. She stared at the food. It didn't look like something Ferena would make. It looked a lot. . . fancier. "What is this?" She asked.

"Roast chicken with blackened lemon sauce, stuffed with sautéed vegetables. You also have cheese soup, a light salad and fresh baked dinner roll."

Chelsea stared at her tray. "Who made all this?"

"That's easy, I did." He smiled widely, obviously proud of himself.

She stared at him. "_You_ made this?"

He smiled and nodded. "It's been cooking all day! Ferena-san was was watching it for me."

"You actually cook?"

He pouted. "Of course I cook! What did you think being a gourmet was?"

She shrugged. "I just figured you ate a lot and criticized people for not cooking good enough. That's all you've seemed to do since you've been here."

"Well, you seemed perfectly happy to do it yourself, even if you weren't that good." She glared at him as a warning and he raised his hands in defense. "Sorry! But I worked really hard on it for you, so don't be mad at me."

She smiled just enough to let him know she wasn't mad and picked up her spoon, dipping it into the soup. She took the bite and Pierre beamed as her eyes lit up. "It's great!" She smiled as she continued eating. Pierre smiled at the praise and uncovered his own plate, the same meal as hers.

Chelsea was in heaven, she'd never had things that tasted this good before. Even the salad tasted better than usual. They sat and ate their late lunch, just finishing up when Ferena came to visit, carrying a tray of festival cakes. "What are these for?" Chelsea asked.

The older woman smiled. "The Starry Night Festival."

"Oh!" Chelsea had completely forgotten.

"Cefiena and Darshan-san have arranged a party at their home. I'm sorry you can't go because you had your accident, but I thought these would cheer you up." She smiled.

"I don't mind not being able to go at all. Thank you for the cakes, Ferena."

The older woman smiled wider. "Well, I'm off. You two have a good time tonight."

"Huh? Pierre, aren't you going to the party?"

He shook his head. "I'm gonna stay here with you." He smiled and she blushed.

"You don't have to. You should go have fun."

Pierre sighed. "I'll have more fun staying here with you Miss Chelsea. I-I'd like to spend the festival with you. If you'd let me, that is."

"Really? You wouldn't rather be with Cefiena and the others?"

He shook his head and looked at her, smiling wide. "Nope!"

She smiled and settled back into her pillows. "Thanks." Pierre had cleared their dinner plates and picked up the tray of cakes, handing a chocolate one over to the girl. She accepted it gratefully and took a bite. Chocolate was her favorite.

Pierre munched on his. "No offense to Ferena-san, but they'd be better if you'd made them."

"Stop saying things like that." She scolded lightly.

"I can't help it! I just love your desserts! At least they're edible." She frowned a little at his joke and he just smiled more. "When you get better, you'll have to make me some more." Chelsea smiled and nodded a bit, finishing off her treat. She brushed off her hand and looked out the window. It was starting to get dark. Pierre noticed this as well.

"Do you want to go look at the stars with me?" He asked softly. Chelsea smiled and nodded. He helped her up and to get her winter clothes on over her pajamas. He then bundled himself up, grabbed a spare blanket and led her out to sit on the porch swing. He then ran back in to get the footstool to keep Chelsea's leg elevated.

She cuddled up to him as he sat next to her and covered them with the blanket. Their eyes traveled up the clear winter sky, the stars shining brightly. "They're always so beautiful." Chelsea whispered.

"They are." Pierre stared at the stars a bit more before looking down to the girl next to him. His hand was resting on her shoulder and he brought his gloved fingers up to run over her cheek. She gasped and flushed more from his touches than the cold. "Pierre-san?" She looked up at him.

"Hmm?"

"Your fingers. . ."

"Uh." He blushed and removed his hand from her shoulder, looking back to the sky. "Sorry."

She looked at him and smiled. _He's so cute._ She gasped. _Did I really just think that?!_ It had always in the back of her mind, but she'd never admitted it to herself until now. She peeked at him from the corner of her eye and the thought came back to her. He really wasn't so bad. He was kind, helpful, caring. . . She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "You didn't have to stop." She whispered.

Pierre smiled and brought his hand up to run his fingers over her cheek and through her hair. They sat like that until it Chelsea let out a big yawn. "Tired?"

"Just a little." She didn't want to get up though, she was too comfortable.

"Come on, you should get back in." He helped her up and back into the house. She sat on the bed and removed her winter clothing, leaving her in her comfortable pajama pants and long sleeved sleeping shirt. Pierre helped her get settled in bed and pulled the covers up. "This was nice."

She nodded as she snuggled down into the pillows. "It was." He leant down and lightly kissed her cheek. She was blushing, but boy was she happy.

"Happy Starry Night Pierre." She smiled.

"Happy Starry Night Chelsea."

To be continued. . .


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry this has taken so long to update, I haven't had internet at my house for a while so I can only update at school.

Last chapter was cute. Finally they're starting to accept that they actually like each other. Hopefully things continue to go well.

PART TEN:

As winter started to come to an end, Tarou was getting nervous. "We need to get some more help around here. Miss Chelsea won't be able to help us get the fields ready, plant, water or harvest any crops. And I doubt she'll be much help with the animals, either. We'll have to find her a replacement."

Natalie frowned. "Grandpa! How can you say that?"

"Ah, I'm not saying shut her out completely, but we need to get this farm up and going again this spring. We'll just put out an ad over the radio for a temporary replacement until she gets better."

Erik nodded. "I understand. I'm sure Chelsea won't mind, either, she's pretty reasonable."

"Especially since she's gotten closer to Pierre-san." Natalie giggled. All that time cooped up in the little house together had done wonders for their relationship. Chelsea wasn't as moody as she had been and it seemed as if Cefiena had finally realized that she'd have no chance with the young gourmet and had left them alone, only visiting once in a while to sit and chat with them both, instead of every other day to try and coerce Pierre away from the farmer girl.

Since she'd gotten to know her, Chelsea felt only a tiny bit bad for being mean to the girl in the past, but she had seen Pierre first, and quite frankly he was hers. She smirked at him as she regarded her cards. "Pierre, do you have any twos?" He grumbled and handed him the three in his hand which she happily added to her growing pile of winning cards. "I'm the Go Fish champion!" She sang.

"I didn't know there was such a thing, but I guess you are. That's the fourth time you've beaten me today, Chelsea."

"Aww, I'm sorry. Maybe we should play a different game?"

Pierre shook his head. "Nah. Anyway, my stories are on." He grabbed the remote and flicked on the television. Chelsea found it cute that he liked watching soap operas.

The doctor had come back to check on her that morning and told her that both her limbs were healing nicely. Her elbow should be fine by the end of spring and her leg by fall. Chelsea didn't like the fact that she wouldn't be able to help with the farm work, but the family reminded her that healing was the first priority. So she continued to spend her days like this with Pierre.

Chelsea looked over at the boy who was sitting on the little chair by her bed, intently watching the television and trying to figure out if Maria was carrying Josh's baby or Brian's. Her eyes then traveled over to the tiny couch that he'd been occupying in the living room for the past few weeks and at the strewn pillows and blankets. It couldn't be comfortable. She thought for a moment. She did have a lot of lumber saved up from when she'd done the first renovation on her home. Maybe it was time she asked Goran to add on another room.

"Hey, Pierre?"

"Hmm?" He was still watching the screen.

"I'm going to go talk to Ferera."

"You sure?" He turned to look at her.

"Yes, I'm sure. I can walk just fine now that the doctor gave me this new leg brace and my crutches."

He still seemed skeptical. "I'll go with you."

"No! It's girl things."

Pierre blinked. "Well, at least let me walk you over."

She sighed. "I'm going barely fifteen feet, Pierre, I'll be fine." She slipped her unbroken foot into her snow boot and pulled on her coat and hat. Pierre watched as she took her crutch and used it to stabilize herself, hobbling over to the door. Pierre opened it for her and watched as she walked across the small yard to the main house. He smiled as he saw Ferena open the door and help her inside. She was so stubborn.

Ferena smiled and helped Chelsea inside. "Feeling alright today?"

"Yes, thank you!" Chelsea smiled as they went into the kitchen and sat at the table. Ferena poured some tea for the young girl and sat next to her.

"I'm glad you're getting out and about more. That leg brace seems to work wonders."

She looked down to her leg. "Yeah, I'm glad the doctor gave it to me." She sipped her tea and looked over to Ferena. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Of course! What is it?"

"I want Goran to add on to my house again. The snow is starting to melt and it'll be spring in a few days. That other farmer you hired will be coming shortly and I want him to have his own room." She blushed. "I was thinking Goran could add on an extra room to my house. Then Pierre can move all his things in there, and the new guy can take his old room here in the main house."

Ferena smiled. "I think that's a decent idea. I'm sure Pierre-san will like it as well. But have you thought about what everyone else will say if you continue living together? It's plausible now because you need help." She giggled at the girl's face. "You two really do make a good couple, I don't know why you keep denying it."

She blushed even more. "I-I don't know if Pierre thinks about things like that." Sure he'd kissed her, even if it was only on the cheek, but after the Starry Night Festival, he hadn't tried to again. Chelsea wouldn't have minded if he had, but she didn't want to ask him about and make him feel pushed into doing something like that if he didn't want to.

"You'd be surprised what goes on in boys' heads." Ferena got up and took down a piece of paper and a pen. She sketched out a blueprint of the farm and asked Chelsea how she wanted the room added on so she could tell Goran. The farmer told her where she wanted the room and that it should be about the same size as her own. Ferena nodded and made the notes, telling her she'd take the idea to Goran for her.

Chelsea smiled as she headed back to her own house, walking in to see Pierre was right where she'd left him, staring at the television. She smiled and sat down next to him.

The next day, Goran came over to talk to her. He went over the plans and gave her an estimate which was well below what the first renovation cost. She had a feeling that the man was deliberately slashing the price for her, but she couldn't get him to raise it any higher. She sighed and decided she'd just give him an extra bonus for the job.

Pierre was confused and wondered what was going on as the large man started moving things and making marks on the wall. "I'm having Goran build an extra room. You can't sleep on the couch forever."

Pierre stared at her. "You're building a room? For me?"

"Well, Goran is doing the actual building. I'm just paying him."

Pierre looked at her and smiled widely suddenly coming over and hugging her tight. "Thank you! That makes me happy."

"I'm glad." She smiled back.

The renovations went on during the first week of spring, once the last of the snow had melted away. The new room was coming along nicely and though sometimes the banging and hammering was a disturbance, the end result was well worth it. Pierre got his things moved out of his room in the main house and turned it over to Mark, the farmer that had been hired to take Chelsea's place while she was still healing.

Mark was a nice guy, very hardworking and knowledgeable when it came to farming. With his help, the start of the spring planting season got off to a great start. Chelsea liked the new farmer, too and marveled at how much he knew. The two even came up with new ideas to help the farm profit better.

Pierre was jealous at first, not liking how much Chelsea talked with the other man. He also wasn't sure exactly what his own relationship with her was. They were essentially living together and he had kissed her that night of the Festival, but did Chelsea want an actual _relationship_ relationship? He didn't know and the rocky ground he was teetering on made it even harder for him to accept someone new like Mark.

However it seemed he wasn't the one with the competition. Instead it was Valts, the quiet rancher who found himself competing for _Natalie's_ attention. The redhead would often shoo Pierre out of the room while she talked with Chelsea about her boy troubles. Natalie confided that she liked them both, but some things about Valts were kind of annoying, like how he cared about his money more than her.

Chelsea smiled and asked her if she knew how annoying Pierre had been when he'd first arrived on the Island. She patted her friend's shoulder and tried to reassure her that things would work out however they were meant to. Natalie nodded and got up to go back to work. Chelsea hoped her friend would be able to find someone special, just like she had.

By the time spring was over, Chelsea's arm was as good as new. The doctor came by to take off the cast and the farmer was delighted that she could move it freely once again. He gave her more exercises to do to rebuild the muscle strength, but everything was going well. She could now use her crutches the normal way to get around more effectively. She now helped out on the farm by collecting eggs and feeding the animals.

She also rejoined everyone for nightly meals. The walk into town had been too long for her to take when she could only use her one arm to try and stable herself on the crutches. She loved being around everyone again, even though they had visited often. Charlie and Elza were especially happy to see that her arm was better at least. Elza gave her a bouquet of flowers that grew along the houses in the spring and she smiled, saying they were very pretty and she'd put them in water as soon as she got home. The little girl giggled at this and hugged her.

Pierre smiled at this and, not for the first time, was sure Chelsea would make a wonderful mother. He let his thoughts wander through out the meal about what a life with her would be like. "Hey!" Suddenly a slap to his arm shook him out of his daydream. "Uh, yeah?"

Chelsea was frowning at him. "I asked you about a million times to please pass the potatoes." She stated.

He blushed. "Sorry, Chelsea." He handed her the bowl.

"Are you alright?" She asked quietly.

Pierre smiled and nodded. "Just thinking."

"Oh? About what?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much."

"Sure." Chelsea knew that wasn't the case, but didn't press him on it and instead went back to her supper. Pierre smiled. _It would definitely be amazing._

That evening, the couple walked back home together. "So, what were you really thinking about during supper tonight?" Chelsea asked.

"Ah, it was nothing really."

She glared at him. "It was not, you were thinking about something really hard, what was it?"

He was blushing and Chelsea stopped hopping a moment to poke him. "What was it?! Come on, tell me! Please?!"

Pierre stopped, his head hung down. "You. . ."

"Me what?"

He sighed, exasperated. "Well I don't even know what you _really_ think of me?! I mean, I know we. . . but what does that mean?!"

Chelsea was blushing furiously. "It. . . it means I like you. I've liked you since before you left, as. . . _more _ than a friend, I think." She confessed.

"You. . . you have?"

She nodded. "But then Cefiena came and I thought you liked her so I didn't say anything because I wanted you be happy, even if you weren't with me." She hung her head and Pierre stepped closer to her, brining her face up to look at him.

"I'm happiest when I'm with you, Chelsea. I've really liked you a lot since I came here. You're so talented and so caring. Sure you need some help with cooking and moodiness," She slapped his arm lightly. "But it's nothing we can't fix." He smiled and she smiled back. "Really?"

"Really." She leant up and lightly pressed her lips to his. Pierre closed his eyes and wrapped his arms gently around her waist, kissing her back. They were both grinning as they pulled apart and blushing. "Do you think we're a couple now?"

Pierre nodded in agreement. "You bet."

To be continued. . .


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you all for reading up to chapter eleven! I'm more than likely not going to be able to update until Monday due to no internet service at home, so I apologize for that in advance.

PART ELEVEN:

The new couple lived happily for the next few months. Chelsea's leg was deemed healed a few weeks before the end of fall and she was given more exercises by the doctor and Pierre gave her leg massages to get her muscles to relax.

They were sitting on Chelsea's bed one morning, when there was a knock on the door. Pierre left to go answer it, Salty already barking at the closed door. The little animal ran outside when Pierre opened the door and Natalie chuckled. "This just came over the radio." She handed him a slip of paper with a telegram on it.

"Thanks Miss Natalie." She smiled and waved to Chelsea who waved back sheepishly. Pierre smirked and closed the door, letting the dog run around outside for a while. He went back to sit by his girlfriend and read the message. About halfway through, he groaned.

"What's the matter?"

"My parents want me to come back home again."

She frowned. "Are you going?"

Pierre sat for a moment before turning to face her. "No." He said firmly. "I'm going to stay here with you."

She flushed and he leant over to kiss her softly. "I'm glad about that." She smiled.

Pierre had been staying in Chelsea's house all while she was recovering from her accident and now got to call the house his home with a room of his own. Ariella blushed whenever she talked to Chelsea, but the farmer had to keep reminding the nun that there was nothing like _that_ going on between them. Roven, it seemed, also talked to Pierre, wanting to know what his intentions were with Chelsea. When he'd told her this, she'd giggled. It sounded like something a girl's father would say.

Chelsea went back to helping the family and Mark with the chores, feeding and watering the animals, milking the cows and collecting eggs from the chickens and wool from the sheep. Chelsea still loved the big horse, Cesar and brushed him and rode him whenever she could.

Pierre fussed whenever she got up on the big horse, urging her to be careful or trying to coax her into riding Chef, who was smaller. Chelsea rolled her eyes and tried to assure her boyfriend that he'd only gotten spooked that one time. "It could still happen again." He pouted and refused to look at her until she got down off the horse and walked over to him.

"You're such a big baby." She smiled before kissing him on his cheek. She took his hand and led him over to the big animal. "Horses are actually pretty reliable. Cesar's just not used to having little kids run around him." She reached out her hand to the horse's nose who nuzzled it and gave a happy snort. The girl smiled and patted him. "We had horses on my dad's farm. I rode them in races that the town held."

Pierre looked at her. He knew she'd had farming experience, but didn't know she actually _lived_ on a farm before. He'd always thought it was her grandparents who were farmers or something. "I thought you lived in a bakery?"

"I did. That was after a big storm came and ruined the farm." She looked down. "And my parents died."

Pierre was surprised. Family was something Chelsea rarely ever talked about. "Chelsea. . ."

"It was in the spring, and there was a storm; a tornado. I'd seen tornadoes before, they were nothing new, but this one was strong." She continued. "I was twelve and my parents had rushed me down into the storm cellar before going back to try and save some of the animals. The wind was too strong, though, and my mother and father got carried away. Eleven people in the town died that day, my parents with them."

She sighed. "My auntie was the only relative I had left, so I went to live with her and she sold what was left of the farm so she could keep putting me through school and taught me how to bake. But then she got sick and never got better. Towards the end of her life, a few weeks before the bakery closed, she couldn't get out of bed anymore. Then she just. . . was gone." Chelsea sighed, feeling better now that she had told Pierre everything.

"Oh, Chelsea." He hugged her and she wrapped her arms around him in return.

"I'm alright. I envy you, though. You and everyone else. You have a big family that wants to see you, and asks you to come home. Ferena has her family and has built a new life with them. Julia and Marsell, Goran-san and Elza, Chen-san and Charlie and even Ceffiena and Darshan-san. Everyone has a family."

"Well, you have me."

She smiled a bit. "Yeah, I do."

On the next boat, Pierre rushed with them down to the docks. "What's your hurry, Pierre? Did you order something?"

He nodded. "For your information, I asked my parents to send someone."

"Send someone?" Chelsea asked as she led Cesar and the cart down the path, stopping at the edge of the beach.

"You'll see!" He said as he ran towards the boat. Chelsea looked to the others who shrugged and the three young farmers started hauling crates of produce over to the boat.

As Chelsea set a crate onto the pile, Pierre came down the ramp holding a pink bundle in his arms. "There there, I bet you missed me, huh Strawberry?"

The girl looked at him. "What is _that_?" He smiled and set the bundle down. A plump, pink pig on a leash started bouncing around his legs. The farmers stared. "Why do you have a pig?" Mark asked the question on everyone's mind.

"He's a truffle hunter. Fall is the best time to find truffles."

"Truffles?" Natalie asked.

"They're really fancy mushrooms. Very expensive, too."

The redhead wrinkled her nose. "Mushrooms? Gross!"

Pierre frowned. "They're good!"

"No they aren't."

Erik smirked. "Natalie was just stupid and ate a poisonous mushroom once."

"Shut up Erik!" She growled.

Pierre chuckled. "I'll make a really good mushroom dish that I know will change your mind!"

She sighed. "Don't expect me to eat it."

He pouted. "But it'll be really good. . ."

Erik patted his shoulder. "Natalie's just stubborn, don't worry about it."

He nodded and watched Chelsea who had knelt down to pat the pig. She had a big smile as he nuzzled her hand. "He's cute."

Pierre smiled. "Can we keep him in the house?"

"In the house?" She looked up at him.

"Yeah. He's house trained and he doesn't cause much trouble."

Chelsea looked at him. "I guess. But if he ruins something, it's out to the barn."

Pierre smiled and nodded. Strawberry was very well behaved. They finished getting things loaded and unloaded and collected their pay for the produce. The workers then headed back up to the farm.

Once back, Pierre pulled on Chelsea's arm. "Come with me! It's still early and I wanna see if we can find anything before it gets dark."

"What? Go mushroom hunting now?"

He nodded. "It's great weather, come on Chelsea, please?"

She sighed as he won her over with the big eyes and went to throw on a sweater before heading into the forest with Pierre. They'd been walking through the dense trees for quite a while, Strawberry rooting around in front of them. "How long does it take to find these things?"

Pierre shrugged. "Sometimes it takes days." He looked around. "I hope this island grows mushrooms. It should." She sighed. This could just be a wild goose chase. Er, mushroom chase.

Suddenly Strawberry darted forward, pulling the leash from Pierre's hand. "Strawberry! Come back!" He ran after the pig and Chelsea ran after him. She could tell they were going uphill and realized they must be climbing the mountain. "Pierre! This is too far, we need to go back!"

"I need to get Strawberry!" She nervously looked around at the rocky terrain and then followed after Pierre. He'd been right in front of her, but now the trees were denser and it was very dark.

"Pierre?!" She couldn't see him anymore and called out again. He didn't answer. Chelsea was starting to panic. What if they got lost in here forever? What if something happened to Pierre?! What if- She stopped thinking as she heard a twig snap.

"P-Pierre?" She looked around nervously, trying to see through the dense foliage. She took a few tentative steps forward. "Pierre, this isn't funny. I wanna go back." Another rustle in a bush behind her made her whip around and she backed up, her eyes wide. Suddenly she backed into something hard. She turned to see what it was and shrieked.

To be continued. . .


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for that cut off right there, I hope you all don't hate me too much. ; So, now I give you the continuation. Oh. I added a character, too.

PART TWELVE:

A huge black face stared back at her, grinning in a most unpleasant way. The farmer turned and bolted, not caring where she went as long as it wasn't here. She ran through the thick trees, not realizing that they were starting to thin out. Suddenly a hand grabbed her and she cried out again.

"Chelsea! Calm down!" She stared wide-eyed at her boyfriend.

"Pierre!" She cried and grabbed onto him. "I wanna go back. We need to go back now."

He patted her back. "It'll be okay. Just a little longer. Strawberry just found a whole field of truffles!"

"NO!! There was something big and scary back there and I do not want to stay in forest one minute longer Pierre! We're going back home!"

"Chelsea, I'm sure you just got spooked because it's so dark in here, but we're in a good spot now, see?" He pointed up to where she could see the sky. "It was probly just a tree or a rock or something."

"I don't care! I'm really scared, Pierre! You found your pig, so let's go! Please!" She pleaded with him.

Pierre had never seen her like this. "Okay, Chelsea. But what did you see that got you so scared?"

"I dunno! It was big and black and looked like on of those tribal statues."

He looked at her. "A tribal statue? What would one of those be doing here?"

"I don't know and I don't care! I just want to go back!" She was clinging to him again, sobbing into his shoulder.

"Okay, we'll go back." He wrapped Strawberry's leash tightly around his wrist so he wouldn't get loose again and put his arm around Chelsea, leading her through the forest.

They walked for a while longer before Chelsea heard another snap. "Pierre!" She clung to him.

"I heard it too." He was starting to get edgy himself and pulled Chelsea faster through the forest. Another rustle and Pierre took Chelsea's hand tightly, running to get her out of the forest. It didn't help that he didn't really know where they were going.

Suddenly Pierre was grabbed from behind. He fell backwards, Chelsea falling close to him and Strawberry squealing. "What you do in forest?"

The two looked up to see a short, dark boy with wild hair and tattoos, wearing what looked to be clothes made out of the hide of a tiger (Chelsea didn't want to think that there might be tigers in the jungle). He would look innocent enough, if he wasn't holding a spear.

The girl was too terrified to speak, but Pierre somehow found his voice. "We we-were mushroom hunting."

His eyes narrowed. "You from valley?" They nodded. "We see you houses and boats." They nodded again. "What you names?"

"Uh, I'm Pierre. This is Chelsea."

"My name Sinba. My tribe live in mountains." Pierre and Chelsea looked at each other, neither having any idea that anyone lived in this dense forest. They jumped when another voice spoke.

"Sinba, who they?" It was a short girl, the same tan and tattooed skin as the boy. Her hair was long and she wore stone jewelry.

"From valley." She smiled and walked up to them, looking at Chelsea. "Pretty clothes."

Chelsea looked down to her dirty work clothes. "Oh, thank you?"

The girl smiled. "You bring them back?"

Sinba shook his head. "I take home."

She smiled. "I go too!"

"No, Olla go home."

She huffed and started to yell at the boy in a language Pierre and Chelsea didn't understand. Finally the boy sighed and the girl smiled. "We take you home now." She stepped forward and touched Chelsea's shoulder. "No be scared. We been watching you, but too scared come see you."

Chelsea looked at her as she started walking with Pierre, following Sinba. "We never knew you were here. We thought the Island was deserted."

"No, we live here so long. Some like you here before, but Goddess not good to them and they leave."

"The people here before? The goddess?"

Sinba scowled. "Don't need say everything!" She yelled at him again and he grumbled, turning to lead them down the mountain once again. Chelsea figured they either had to be siblings or a couple.

"Goddess no give them good crops because bad Witch come. No food to grow, so they leave."

"Who is this goddess? And the witch?" Pierre asked.

"Goddess of Harvest. She make plants grow. Princess Witch come and ruin crops, make fishing bad."

Chelsea looked to Pierre. "The Harvest Goddess. Did the others like you tell you about her?"

"They tell us a little. We know Goddess already, but call her not that. She make our plants grow and our hunting good. So we stay here." They continued walking. "I like to visit you. Or you visit us in forest. When Wada see you not bad, he be happy."

"Wada?"

"He Sinba's father. He lead tribe."

Sinba called to them and pointed. "There path back to your village."

"Wada be happy you not bad. Be happy you like others."

Sinba pointed again, eager to have the strangers leave. Pierre took Chelsea's hand to walk her back home. Before leaving, Chelsea pointed to their house. "I live there."

Olla nodded. "I visit you on forest edge. That too far for me. Next time you get you mushroom, Pip, you go meet Wada."

Chelsea giggled at the mispronunciation of his name, but Pierre pouted. "Thank you." She said.

"We make sure you safe when come in forest, so no be afraid. Now go, before it get dark." They said their goodbyes and the two groups headed off in opposite directions.

Chelsea looked at Pierre. "Can you believe it?! I didn't think anyone lived here besides us!"

Pierre nodded. "It is pretty neat."

"I want to learn more about what happened to the other setters before us. We should go back tomorrow."

Pierre looked skeptical. "I dunno. They seem nice, but what if everyone else in their tribe isn't?"

"Olla said they got along with the other settlers."

"Well yeah. . . But what if things have changed?"

Chelsea thought about this.

"I just don't want something to happen to you."

She nodded as they walked. "I understand, but what about meeting Olla on the edge of the forest?"

He frowned. "I dunno. . ."

"Come on, Pierre, it shouldn't hurt anything."

He looked at her and knew he'd never win this argument. "I guess." He was still pouting, not liking the idea, but having to accept it. Chelsea smiled as she took his hand and pulled him back home. _I hope you're right, Chelsea._

To be continued. . .


	13. Chapter 13

I started out really liking how this whole thing with Sinba and Olla was going, but then I got stuck on how to continue. I know what I want to do with them in future chapters, but this is kind of a transition period. The next one might be, too. If they're bad, I apologize and hope you'll keep reading once I get over this awkward hump I've found myself on. I actually don't really like this chapter, but have given up on trying to make it better.

As always, thanks for reading and for all the wonderful reviews. Sorry I haven't had a chance to thank you all individually like I wanted. I'm getting really busy.

PART THIRTEEN:

The next morning, Chelsea hurried to get her chores done around the farm. When asked why she was in such a hurry, Chelsea just smiled, leaving Natalie and Mark wondering what had gotten into her.

Once all the work was done, she hurried into the house. Pierre was just coming out of the bathroom and she grabbed his hand. "Let's go back to the woods today!"

"Chelsea, why so soon?"

"Because, I promised to meet Olla."

"How can you be so sure she's even there right now?"

"I know she is! Please Pierre, come with me!"

"Fine." He let himself be dragged out of the house, Strawberry shuffling around their feet. Chelsea hurried off to the edge of the trees and looked into the gloom. She didn't see Olla, but she knew she'd show up soon. Pierre came up beside her and plopped down on the grass, still tired. Chelsea kept standing, looking into the trees.

About an hour passed and Pierre looked up to her. "Why don't you sit down?" She shook her head and kept looking.

Another hour and Pierre sighed. "Chelsea, maybe we should go ba-"

"No! I know she's coming!" The girl stepped further into the trees.

"What are you doing?"

"Maybe she's too afraid to come this far out. Maybe she's up on the ridge she left us at last night."

Pierre got up, tightening his hold on Strawberry's leash as he followed after her. "Be careful!" He said as she started to climb up the slope at the base of the mountain. She got to the top of the ledge and looked around. "Olla?" There was no answer and she sat down, sulking.

"Chelsea?"

"She'll be here." She said definitely. Pierre sat down next to her, trying to start up a conversation, but she wasn't talking, instead staring intently into the woods. They waited all through the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. Pierre's stomach was soon growling and Chelsea didn't even look at him as she spoke. "If you want to go, then go."

"I don't want to leave you here, but we both have to eat. Why don't we just go back and have lunch?"

"And risk missing her? No thank you."

Pierre sighed and sat back against the tree, aimlessly picking on grasses. This continued on for the rest of the day, the two sitting in relative silence, waiting for the native girl to show herself. Pierre eventually dozed off while Chelsea continued to stare.

_Where are you?_ She looked over at Pierre who was propped up against a tree, his head slumped over on his shoulder and snoring softly. She smiled._ He sat with me all this time. _She looked to the trees and sighed. _I'll just come back tomorrow._ She stood and shook the boy awake. "Come on, let's go back."

Pierre groggily opened his eyes and yawned. "You sure?"

She nodded. "We have to get supper ready anyway."

Pierre could tell she was disappointed and hugged her. "Give her some time. I'm sure she'll show up one of these days." She nodded and they went home.

The next day went pretty much the same, as did the next. Chelsea kept waiting and waiting and Pierre sat with her. The only thing that changed was that the farmer girl became more impatient. By the end of the week, Chelsea was on edge. She refused to go back home with Pierre and he had complained, not wanting to stay out in the forest over night. He tried and tried to get her to go back home, but she kept refusing. He was about to give up when they heard footsteps.

Chelsea looked towards the sound and sure enough, Olla came hurrying through the trees. "I sorry, Chelsea. I no know you be here so soon. I no time come back."

"It's alright, I didn't mind waiting." Pierre rolled his eyes.

"Sinba see you sit here when he come hunt. He tell me you waiting." She was smiling. "I so happy, Wada want see you!"

"He does?"

She nodded. "Yes! He want you come for big supper. After meet you, want meet others."

"That's great!" The two girls continued to talk while Pierre sat off to the side. It seemed like Chelsea had completely forgotten he was there. He looked up to the sky, noting how dark it had gotten. Chelsea and Olla were still chatting avidly and didn't look like they were going to stop any time soon. He tried to tell Chelsea he wanted to go home, but she just waved him off and kept chatting with her friend.

After about an hour, Sinba came to collect Olla. They said their goodbyes and Olla told Chelsea she should come for the big feast in two days. Chelsea nodded and waved as they left. She didn't even look to her boyfriend as she hurried back home, leaving him behind. Pierre frowned and followed after her. "Chelsea?!"

"Oh, Pierre, it's great, huh? Soon we'll know so much more about the people here!"

"You didn't even ask me."

"Huh?"

"You didn't even ask if I wanted to go to this 'big supper' they're having."

"Oh. Well, I figured it's food so-"

"I don't only think about food Chelsea. It doesn't matter, I don't really want to go."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I've tried to talk to you all week while we were sitting out there, but you just kept ignoring me! It was no different today, you ran off and left me in the woods!"

"I-"

He sighed. "Maybe this isn't going to work. . ." He said quietly.

"Pierre?"

"Never mind, I'm going to bed." He went into his room, shutting the door and locking it.

For the next two days, it seemed all Chelsea talked about was the tribe of people living up on the mountain and Pierre was sick of it. He still didn't want to go to the supper, but for some reason he couldn't say no to the farmer. He was so confused. He loved her and cared for her deeply, but lately he hadn't been able to stand her. He cringed at all the words coming out of her mouth and found himself wishing she would just shut up before realizing what he'd thought and began to feel guilty. What was worse, it seemed as if his thick headed girlfriend was oblivious to how he felt. Pierre didn't know what to do. He was sitting in his room, worrying when there was a knock on the door. "Yeah?"

"Pierre are you coming with me? Olla invited you, too."

He sighed and got up. He couldn't let her go into that forest by herself. "Yeah, I'm coming." He opened the door and she smiled at him. He gave her a half smile and started for the door. They met Olla and Sinba on the ridge and they led them through the dense trees.

They climbed higher than they had the previous time and Chelsea noticed more of the big black statues. "Olla, what are those?"

"Those statues of Great God. He watch over tribe and keep out bad spirits."

Pierre realized it was one of those that Chelsea must have run into and gotten her so scared. He smiled sadly at that memory. How she'd looked to him for protection and comfort, and how he was only too happy to oblige. It seemed like that was the last time he'd felt truly happy with her.

They followed the natives up a sandy path that led to a large ridge on the side of the mountain. "This our village!" Olla proudly announced as a small cluster of huts came into view between the trees. There were also caves cut into the side of the mountain that Chelsea figured were homes as well. All around were people with the same dark features as Olla and Sinba.

A scruffy man walked up to them and Pierre was slightly repulsed to see the lizard hanging by the tail from his mouth. He started talking to Sinba in the odd language before switching to the broken English. "You welcome to village! Come for big supper." He smiled. "I Wada. Olla tell much of you."

Chelsea and Pierre greeted him and introduced themselves. Wada turned to his people who had gathered around him, apparently introducing the strangers to them, once again in his native tongue. He turned back and ushered them over to a big circle in the clearing. He set Pierre down on his left side, Sinba on his right. Olla sat Chelsea down next to Pierre before taking her seat next to Sinba.

"We have new friends for supper. We hope to build friends with others have come. We hope Goddess is good to new people, so they be happy." The rest of the crowd gave hearty praise and the women rose, going to bring in the food to the circle. Chelsea didn't know what to do, but Sinba shook his head. "You guest. No have serve to men."

"Oh." She settled back down next to Pierre. Soon the girls had filled the circle with all sorts of baskets of fruits and vegetables, as well as slabs of dried or cooked meat and fish. The women also filled the cups of all the males with something that looked like wine, but smelt much stronger. As Olla filled Pierre's cup, she explained. "Is only for men to drink. Sorry Chelsea."

"It's ok."

"What is it?" Pierre asked, swirling the liquid around in the cup.

"Red berry juice. It very good, so drink lots, Pip." Pierre looked to his glass and took a sip. It did taste very good, but it was a lot stronger than any other drink he'd had.

As the girls sat back down, the men started helping themselves to the food. Olla urged Chelsea to take what she wanted as well. Once the men and the guests were finished, the women took their portions. There was much talking and Chelsea and Pierre got many questions from the villagers, especially Wada. He wanted to know everything about the people in the valley and Chelsea was only too happy to share.

"Marsell is one of the nicest women you'll ever meet! And she knows so much about animals. We have a fisherman named Danny who spends all day at the beach or the river. Oh! There's also a big singer from the mainland. Her name is Lily and she has one of the prettiest singing voices ever!"

Wada smiled as he listened to her descriptions. He decided the people sounded nice, and would like to meet them. Chelsea smiled and nodded vigorously as she looked over at Pierre who was currently on his third glass of juice. His cheeks were slightly flushed and he had an odd look on his face. "Pierre are you okay?" She asked and he just waved her off as another girl refilled his cup. Chelsea's attention was brought back to a conversation between Wada and Olla, but kept an eye on her boyfriend as well.

By the time night had fallen, all of the men were in high spirits. Pierre was laughing loudly with Sinba about something Chelsea didn't catch. She looked to Olla. "Are your parties always like this?"

She nodded. "When have much to celebrate, yes." She giggled. "Look like Pip like red berry like Sinba."

Chelsea nodded. "Yeah, I think he drank too much."

"Oh?"

She nodded and sighed. "We should get back."

"Why not you stay?"

"I don't want Ferena to worry about us." Olla nodded and spoke to Wada.

"Seem our guest must leave. We invite Chelsea and Pip come again! Soon we meet others." The men all cheered as Chelsea tried to help Pierre up, but he was stumbling too much. "Eeeet'ssss all spiiiiiininngg." He laughed as she tried to right him.

"Pierre, you shouldn't have drank so much." She grunted as she tried to get his arm around her so she could walk with him.

"It wus gooood." He stumbled again and Chelsea nearly fell over. _I didn't think he was this bad._ She thought as Olla came up to her.

"Why not you stay? You get hurt walk back if Pip not stand up." This was true, but Chelsea didn't want to impose. "Come, you stay here. Go home in morning."

"I thiiiinkk's good 'dea." Pierre hiccupped.

"Come, you stay in big hut." Olla ushered them to the part of the village by the wall of the mountain. "This place good for you." Chelsea smiled and thanked Olla as she set Pierre down on the mats. "You need me, I in hut next you." Olla hugged her. "You have good sleep Chelsea."

"You too." Olla left and Chelsea turned her attention back to Pierre. "Why did you have to drink so much?" She sighed.

"Wus good."

She laid him down and moved the hair out of his eyes. "You feel hot." She looked around and found a bowl of water, which she dipped her fingers in and ran them over his forehead.

"'S good." Pierre looked at her. "You're sooo preeetty." She blushed as he continued to stare at her. "Yu really love me?" He asked softly.

She smiled. "Of course I do."

"More'n tha people in tha mountain?"

She chuckled. "Of course."

"Good. I dinnit think you did."

"What do you mean?"

"You always talkin' 'bout 'em, never ta mee."

"Of course I talked to you."

"Nut really. You talk ta me 'bout mountain people. Not 'bout what we used to."

She thought about this. _That can't be true._ But as she thought back, she realized she had been neglecting him, opting instead to obsess over Olla and her people. "Oh Pierre, I'm sorry." He had closed his eyes, but Chelsea could tell he wasn't sleeping. "Will you forgive me?"

He smiled as he looked up at her. "Sure. 'Cause I luv you more'n mountain people too."

She giggled and hugged him. "You should rest. You'll probably feel really sick in the morning."

He nodded and rolled over onto his side. "Night Chelseaa."

"Night Pierre." She smiled as he started snoring and she laid down next to him, wrapping her arms around him and falling asleep herself.

To be continued. . .


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry about the long wait on the update. I'm currently in my last class of college before graduation and I'm getting bombarded with stuff that needs to get done. Once the first week in April is over, I'll have lots more free time, so look for an update then.

I want to thank you all for reading and your wonderful reviews. I do read all of them, but I've found less and less time to respond to all of them like I had been. I'm happy that people still seem to be enjoying this and I know where I want to go with it now, so hopefully no more sticky parts for a while.

PART FOURTEEN:

When Pierre woke up the next morning the first thing he registered was how much his head hurt. He groaned as he sat up, opening his puffy eyes and looking around. The next thing he realized was that he wasn't in his room. As a matter of fact, he wasn't in the house at all. He looked around to the thatch walls and the burnt down candles, then to the animal furs he was covered in.

His tired eyes then moved over to see Chelsea still sleeping beside him. _Oh Goddess, they kidnapped us and drugged us!_ He started shaking Chelsea awake, hoping she was alright. "Chelsea! Chelsea!"

"Mmnn. . ." She groaned as she rolled over onto her stomach. "What's wrong?" She mumbled.

"They've kidnapped us and now they're gonna eat us! I knew they were cannibals! We have to get out of here!"

She looked at him like he was crazy. "What? They didn't kidnap us and they're not cannibals."

"Then why are we here?"

"You got drunk off their wine and couldn't walk straight." She sat up and stretched.

"Oh." He watched as she rearranged her t-shirt and redid her hair in its ponytail. She was so pretty.

She looked over at him. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts."

"I bet. You drank like, eight glasses of wine last night." She dipped a cup into the water and handed it to him.

"Thanks." He drank it down and wiped at his mouth. "What time is it?"

"I dunno, but it's probably late morning."

"We should go back." Chelsea nodded and stood up, straightening the furs before the two headed out. The women were already awake and Olla came up to them. "How feel Pip?"

"I'm alright."

"Here." She handed him a cup of brown liquid.

"What's this?"

"Boil root. Good for after drink at big celebration." She smiled and Pierre drank it down. It tasted horrible, but in just a couple of minutes the pounding in his head went away.

"We're going to head back."

"I hope you have good time?"

"We did! You'll have to come meet everyone else soon."

Olla nodded. "I come back see you in woods next week. Tell you then what Wada say."

Chelsea nodded and Sinba came to escort them home. After a while of walking, the farm came into view once again. Chelsea could see Ferena and Natalie at her front door. "Oh! We'd better hurry." She turned. "Thanks Sinba." He nodded and Pierre and Chelsea hurried out of the forest. "Ferena! Natalie!"

"Cheslsea! There you are."

"And Pierre-san, too. Where have you two been?"

"In the woods." She tried to answer as calmly as possible.

"Doing what?" Natalie looked to the both of them suspiciously as the other farmer waved her off. "Nothing like that! We got lost." The redhead still wasn't buying it, but Chelsea hurried off, insisting she had chores to do.

As Chelsea hurried to the barn, Natalie in tow, Ferena chuckled. "How did things go Pierre-san?"

He smiled. "It went well, I suppose." He'd confided his relationship problems to Ferena when they'd first started and her advice had been to either be persistent or give up. Pierre knew he wasn't willing to give up on her due to how he felt, so he'd stuck with his stubborn girlfriend and things seemed to have turned out alright.

Ferena smiled. "As long as things are going well. I think the two of you are really good for each other."

"Thank you Ferena-san."

Chelsea had decided she'd tell everyone of the tribe in the forest at supper that night. While everyone was enjoying their meal, the young farmer stood and tapped her glass. "Um, I'd like to take a moment to tell everyone of something important that Pierre and I discovered." Natalie smiled. She knew this was coming. "When we went out truffle hunting a while ago, we actually stumbled across a tribe of natives living up in the forest on the mountain."

Roven and Ariella smiled. "We found evidence that suggested something like that, but we didn't know if it was true."

The nun nodded. "Some of the books we found in the Church had notes about people that lived here. But we haven't seen any evidence of that so far."

Chelsea smiled. "Well, they're there. We've met with them and they're very friendly. The leader of the tribe wants to meet with everyone, but he doesn't know when."

Marsell smiled. "If they're friendly, I wouldn't mind meeting them."

Chen nodded. He was used to meeting lots of different kinds of people. The kids were also excited to meet strange new people and were already talking with one another about what they were like.

Ceffiena and Darshan didn't say much. Danny and Lilly looked a bit nervous, but said they would like to meet them. Ferena smiled, trusting Chelsea's judgment completely.

The rest of the meal was eaten with the same sort of chatter and all the following day, Chelsea kept getting asked question upon question. She answered them as much as she could and the excitement kept growing among the townspeople.

When the farmer finally met with Olla and got the okay to arrange a meeting with everyone in town, she was happy. She asked Pierre if he would help her and he said he would. So, together the two sat down and planned a big party for the natives to come and meet all of their friends.

Pierre was glad that Chelsea was so excited and, while she talked about the natives a lot, she also took out time that was totally free of any talk of them. Pierre smiled when Chelsea asked if they could sit and watch soap operas together or if he would teach her a new recipe. These little bits of time really made him realize that she did care about him enough to put aside everything else, and that their relationship wasn't so bad off after all.

Chelsea knew how he felt somehow. He figured he'd probably told her at one point but he just couldn't remember.

Soon the day of the party arrived and Chelsea and Pierre went to meet Wada and the others at the edge of the forest. Olla smiled widely as she greeted her friend and they led everyone to the Church. Wada grinned, seeming like a child at seeing things were much like they had been when the other settlers were here.

Everyone in town greeted the natives as they entered and helped them find seats. There was so much chatter as everyone introduced themselves or asked questions and Pierre smiled as he held Chelsea's hand. He had had his doubts at first, but everything seemed to be turning out just fine.

Over the next few weeks, Chelsea worked hard to get the last of their farming in before winter hit again. Members of the tribe could be seen coming out of the trees to fish closer to ocean or going out in boats. Sinba brought Olla to see Chelsea several times and the girls talked while the boys sat by and watched.

One such day, Sinba plopped down next to Pierre on the grass while Olla and Chelsea walked around the fields. The boy handed a bag to Pierre who opened it. "Truffles!"

"Is what came for first yes?"

Pierre nodded. "Yes! Thank you Sinba."

He smiled. "I have something else." He reached into the bag at his side and pulled out something wrapped in animal furs. He looked to make sure Olla wasn't looking before showing it to the blonde.

Pierre smiled when Sinba pulled back the material to reveal a shining blue feather. "Is for Olla. I climb all way up to top of mountain for it."

"You went all the way up there?"

He nodded. "I prove I strong and be good husband for Olla."

Pierre looked at the feather. "We usually buy ours."

Sinba snorted a bit. "You no get yourself? How woman know you be good husband, if not go get yourself?"

Pierre shrugged. "I never thought about where they came from." He felt kind of. . . inferior? He supposed that was what it was.

Sinba rewrapped his gift and stowed it safely once again. "You can go next fall."

"Huh?"

"When blue bird come back next fall, you get Chelsea feather."

Pierre looked to the top of the mountain. "I don't think I could climb that far. I've never been one for a lot of physical activity."

"Oh." The dark boy patted his shoulder. "I sure Chelsea still like you, even if buy feather."

"Yeah. . ."

Sinba got up and went to Olla, telling her he was ready to leave. She nodded and waved to Chelsea who watched as they went back into the forest.

Pierre still sat where he was, sulking from underneath his hat as he watched Chelsea. They'd been over some rough patches in their relationship and though he had found her unbearable just a few weeks ago, he knew now that he could never really feel that way. It was just one thing that he'd have to learn to accept about her, and that was that she often got carried away with whatever she was currently focused on.

But as he watched her work so hard in the fields with her friends, that look of determination on her face as she focused on her work, he knew it was something he loved. It was just one of the many things he loved about her. _I love her._

He smiled to himself and finally stood, brushing off his pants. He walked over to Chelsea and gave her a big hug before going off to help Ferena, leaving the girl smiling and wondering just what had gotten into him.

To be continued. . .


End file.
